I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.

I'm no capologist but I'm not sure how a trade for Bishop works in relation to the salary cap. TB is in win now mode and they would also like to shed some salary (Filppula?). After their RFA signings, the Stars will be hard pressed to take on the salary that TB wants them to (including a portion of Kari/Niemi's contract). Nill most likely wants to get Benn locked up first to a longer term contract so he has a better idea where everything fits cap wise.

Right now we're about $8.1 million under the cap, with Val and Oleksiak still to sign their qualifying offers (neither is probably very high). So we can definitely fit Bishop in, but then... that's like $17 million/year just on three goalies. Someone's gotta go.

I just heard on the ticket ticker at the stars are probably out of the Ben Bishop trade sweepstakes. What's the story with that?

I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.

Troy McClure wrote:I just heard on the ticket ticker at the stars are probably out of the Ben Bishop trade sweepstakes. What's the story with that?

According to Google, the only place Bishop and Dallas have been mentioned together at all since the draft is that discount version of Defending Big D (if it's possible to be lower rent than DBD). I heard the same ticker and they didn't mention a sauce.

That said, Yzerman's not a dummy. There's no urgency from TB's side. Why not wait and see if you can keep your RFAs with the $12m you have? You can always flip Bishop at the deadline. Or just keep him. They're in win now mode. We are the ones with the urgent need, not them.

Nill is not the rumor kind of guy. Every big coup Jim pulled off, there was nary a mention. Sequin, Spezza, Sharp. Besides, who is really going to take Kari? TB might be a fit, but it's a hard sell. Two more years at 5+ mil. Sorry, but I'm seriously doubting it.

I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.

I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.